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US 8,739,716 B2Granted
Automated quilting and tufting system
AssigneeAtlanta Attachment Company
InventorsElvin C. Price, Preston B. Dasher, Jeffrey S. Kane, George A. Price, Danny V. Murphy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated quilting and tufting system for application of tufts at selected locations along a web of material, including a sewing head receiving a series of tufts or rosettes from a supply. The tufts are removed from their supply and are placed at selected locations on the web of material for attachment to the web of material by the sewing head. Thereafter, the web of material can be cut to form a panel of a desired size.
Claims19
An automatic panel tufting system, comprising;
- a material infeed section for feeding a web of material toward a sewing area;
- a supply of tufts for attachment to the web of material;
- at least one tuft transfer mechanism moving the tufts from said supply and positioning the tufts at a desired location along the web of material at the sewing area;
- a sewing head adjacent the sewing area for engaging and attaching each tuft to the web of material at a desired location therealong;
- a drive platform moveable in a longitudinal direction including at least one carriage on which the sewing head is mounted and moveable across the drive platform in a lateral direction for moving said sewing head in longitudinal and lateral directions for sewing across the web of material;
- and
- an outlet section for conveying the web of material away from the sewing head and including at least one cutting assembly for cutting panels of a desired size from the web of material.
4 more elements
A method of automatically forming a tufted panel, comprising:
- feeding a panel web in an amount sufficient to form a desired size panel;
- feeding a series of rosettes from a supply;
- moving a sewing head into a sewing position at a desired location along the panel;
- transferring a rosette from the supply to the sewing position;
- attaching the rosette to the panel at the desired location with the sewing head;
- and
- after application of a desired number of rosettes to the panel, feeding an additional amount of the panel web sufficient to form a next panel of a desired size.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.